This invention relates generally to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly to electronic organs of the type having upper and lower key manuals and separate chord preset controls. Specifically, the invention is directed to means for providing an improved electronic organ sound while simplifying the technique for playing. The results of this invention are equally useful to both novice and expert musicians.
Heretofore, electronic organs have been provided with circuits which allow the user to depress both accompaniment keys and solo keys on the lower and upper manuals, respectively, to provide accompaniment notes together with the solo notes, but in an octave below the solo notes being played. Such prior art approaches generally require complicated multicontact switching arrangements associated with each of the keys of the electronic organ. For example, actuation of the multicontact key switch of the lower manual is required to enable certain ones of the key switches of the upper manual so that the appropriate notes will pass through the upper manual. This required expensive hard wiring of the multitude of switch contacts between the upper and lower manuals and the electronic circuitry associated with the organ. Examples of such prior art attempt to achieve automatic chord accompaniment of musical instruments are shown in the Cookerly et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,056; the Stinson U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,310 and the Robinson et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,262.